AnnualReport-1881 — Page 73

directly connected with any foreign Missionary. None of the Kaifong schools has as yet been placed under the Grant-in-Aid Scheme. There is no need to detail the results of the examination of each of these 23 Grant-in-Aid schools, as the results are summarily tabulated in the comparative Tables appended to this report. But a few general observations, which forced themselves into notice lately in con- nection with these schools, may be interesting to the taxpayer and possibly contain useful hints to the Managers of these schools. I observed, in the first instance, a general steady improvement going on, from year to year, in the quality of teaching given in these schools, as well as in their organisation and discipline. As I knew all those of these schools which existed before they were brought under the Grant-in-Aid Code, I am certain that this general improvement in the effectiveness of these schools is principally due to the provisions of the Grant-in-Aid Scheme. On the other hand, this scheme, like all other schemes, has also its drawbacks. I observed several evil tendencies arising from some of its provisions. As, for instance, one-fourth of the annual grant earned by a school, goes, according to the provisions of the Code, to the paid teacher as a personal bonus, there is among most of the native teachers a strong tendency, not only to neglect the religious teaching which is not examined into nor specially paid for by the Government, in favour of the particular subjects required by the Code, but also to seek to obtain a high grant by special cramming during the last few months of the year. Another objectionable expedient lately resorted to by soine of the native teachers of these schools in Class I, also adopted with a view to obtain a high personal bonus, is the practice of admitting at the beginning of the year a much larger number of children than there is teaching power to provide for, and to select out of the mass, and to drill in preference, the more intelligent portion of the scholars, but quietly to get rid, by neglect or otherwise, of the unpromising scholars. A further objectionable devise of the same sort is the practice, which appears more generally to be setting in in all the boys' schools in Class I, and which consists in training boys chiefly for the lower standards of the scheme in which passes can be obtained at the examination with comparative ease, but to bring forward as few scholars as possible for the higher standards in which the risk of failure is much greater. Thus, the liberality of the Code appears to have engendered a mercenary spirit among many of the native masters of schools in Class I, and it seems that this very scheme, which was introduced to raise the standard of education in the Colony, is, as far as these schools in Class I are concerned, liable to an abuse tending to lower the standard of education materially. Although the number of these schools and the number of their scholars has very largely increased since 1876, yet the subjoined figures shew that the number of scholars annually brought forward into the two highest standards of the Code has considerably decreased since 1876.

Number of Scholars examined in Standards V and VI of Class 1.

1876, number examined in Standards V and VI,

1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881,

11

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11

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19

37

11

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11

22

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12

45

31

25

17

20

28

I find that the slight increase in the number of scholars brought forward into the higher stan- dards in 1881, as compared with the three preceling years, is due to the laudable efforts made in this direction by the girls' schools and their Managers. It is principally in the boys' schools in Class I, that the standard of education has manifestly been lowered instead of being raised. It is true that a con- siderable number of the boys in these schools leave, after four years study of Chinese, to be enrolled in the Central School to study English, but this fact does not sufficiently account for the excessively small number of boys now being brought forward year by year into the higher standards in spite of the enormous increase of the attendance in these schools. Finally I observed that in the case of some of these Grant-in-Aid schools in Class I, the expenses of which are very small, the amount of grant arned under the provisions of the Code in 1881 exceeded the amount actually spent by them in the same year. I recommended therefore to the Government to introduce into the Grant-in-aid Scheme a rule, limiting the amount of grant, payable to any one school, by a fixed ratio of proportion between grant and expenditure incurred.

28. A Normal School has been started by the Government in September, 1881, beginning with 10 students, with a view to supply trained native Masters for the schools of the Colony. It is too soon to speak of results. The ten students were examined by me at the end of the year, and the result was very satisfactory, but as it tested only three months' work, it is needless to state details here. I append, however, a brief report by the Principal (Appendix).

29. I enclose also the usual Tables, I-XVI, containing the Educational Statistics for 1881.

I have the honour to be, Sir,

Your most obedient Servant,

E. J. EITEL, Inspector of Schools.

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"The Hon. F. STEWART, LL.D.,

Acting Colonial Secretary.